Siegfriedhof lies on the borderlands with the County of Sylvania near Hunger Wood. It is also the site of the Morrian Abbey of Blessed Aethelbert the Vigilant.[1a]
Situated on the river near the Hunger Wood, Siegfriedhof is a small town owned by the Order of the Raven Knights, Morrian Templars dedicated to the destruction of the Undead. The town was a gift from the Elector Counts of Stirland, in gratitude for the Order's help in the Battle of Hel Fenn, nearly 400 years ago. The monastery of the Order dominates the town, and from here it keeps watch on Sylvania to the east. Like its brother monastery in Essen, the Abbey of St. Aethelbert the Vigilant sends agents into Sylvania to gather information that could be used against the Vampire Counts. The people of Siegfriedhof are quite suspicious of strangers, and preemptive lynchings of unknown travellers have been known to occur.[1b]
Fellowship of the Shroud[]
The Fellowship of the Shroud exists as a secret order-within-an-order at Siegfriedhof. Members of the Shroud believe the Undead threat must be eliminated at all costs, even if innocent lives are sacrificed. The ranks of the Fellowship include spies, witch hunters, and scholars, though few priests openly admit membership, as the Shroud's methods are considered questionable. Although the Shroud has existed for centuries, only a select few outsiders had heard of the order until recently, when present leadership began an Empire-wide recruitment campaign. The Shroud's headquarters is located in the Tilean city of Remas.[2b]
The militant arm of the Shroud is known as the Knights of the Raven. Headquartered at the Abbey of Blessed Aethelbert, these warrior zealots have been known to raze entire villages to root out a single Necromancer. The Knights of the Raven are led by Lord Voss, a grizzled veteran of hard campaigns against the Vampire Counts. Although Siegfriedhof has officially belonged to the Knights of the Raven since the Battle of Hel Fenn in 2145 IC, Lord Voss prefers to remain in the background while the Order of Morr governs Siegfriedhof day to day. Grand Abbot Geistwächt is on good terms with Lord Voss and attends secret Shroud meetings on occasion. Geistwächt defers to Lord Voss on doctrinal disputes involving lay folk.[2b]
Geography[]
On the north shore of Lake Svarsee, the town of Siegfriedhof is built into the face of a rock pinnacle high above the surrounding landscape. Below the new town lie the ruins of Old Siegfriedhof, destroyed by a Skaven assault half a century ago. Now all that remains is an overgrown clutter of charred foundations. Skaven tunnels still exist beneath the ruins of Old Siegfriedhof, but they are flooded and unsafe.[2a]
When Siegfriedhof was rebuilt by the Order of Morr, the town was moved to high ground next to the Abbey of Blessed Aethelbert. Of the town's 300 inhabitants, nearly one third reside within the abbey. The remaining two thirds are composed of farmers, woodsmen, and oblates serving the Order.[2a]
Important Siegfriedhof locations are detailed below with numbers corresponding to the map. Siegfriedhof's primary exports are agriculture and timber. Most of the town's inhabitants are connected with the abbey—squires, weaponsmiths, dyers specialising in black cloth, and tailors to fashion vestments. In addition, 10 Knights of the Raven maintain ancestral estates in the town.[2c]
Chapel to Verena[]
This small, domed building contains a statue of the Goddess Verena seated with an open book and scales. Siegfriedhof residents tribute the wife of Morr on a regular basis. The attendant priest, Ulrik Wasser, advises the Order on complex legal matters and mediates cases falling outside the abbey's purview.[2c]
The Widower's Comfort[]
The Widower's Comfort is a shallow, three-story structure built into the rock face. "The Comfort," as it's known locally, is famous for its fruit nectars. The owner, Otto, is an ex-Knight of the Raven, disgraced for some mysterious crime. He never speaks of his past, but when deep in his cups, he may mention his cowardice. The staff and most regulars are Shroud agents, and the Fellowship often meets in the basement. Some may recognise lay staff from the abbey, some of whom are undercover Shroud agents. Those displaying raven pins granted from Lord Voss receive free room and board.[2c]
Styrigen Mound[]
When Giovanni Lanfranchi built his outpost in Siegfriedhof a thousand years ago, a small congregation of druids lived in the nearby Hunger Wood. The druid ceremonies included a benign form of ritual sacrifice called the Circle of Life, wherein participants' commingled their blood to fertilise the earth. Upon receiving exaggerated reports of the Circle of Life ritual, Lanfranchi was appalled at the similarities with the sinister blood cults of Lahmia and dispatched the druids as if they were Vampires.[2c]
The infamous Circle of Life ritual was performed at a clearing in the Hunger Wood around a great Styrigen burial mound. Those visiting the mound during the day find it still and peaceful. A circle of five stone obelisks surrounds the mound, culminating at a great megalith portal on the south-eastern face. The megalith is inscribed with runes matching those on the Styrigen Tablets in the abbey's forbidden library, plus many others.[2c]
If one manages to interpret the runes, they may reveal the information relating to the Old Faith, potentially even the liturgical formula for the Circle of Life ritual. Such a discovery would surely enable the release and dispersal of the druidic ghosts from undeath.[2c]
At the peak of the tall burial mound sits a four-foot-high stone cairn. Allegedly, replacing the Styrigen Tablets in the correct sequence atop the cairn allows the Winds of Magic to once again flow freely through Hunger Wood.[2c]
Old Siegfriedhof[]
All that remains of Castle Siegfried and the old town is overgrown rubble. The dockyard is the only section of the old town remaining in use. The unstable ground is riddled with flooded Skaven holes. There are four major tunnel lines beneath Old Siegfriedhof. The northernmost tunnel is flooded after 100 feet.[2c]